Stand Up and Deliver: A nervous rookie on the comedy circuit

Andy's first hilarious, terrifying and hectic year in the world of comedy. Walking down the flight of steps to the comedy club, I shuffled past the healthy line of punters waiting to get in. A woman with a cash box accosted me. "Can I help?" she asked. In reply, I asserted something that, over 600 gigs later, still feels a bit odd and a bit beautiful: "I'm one of the comedians." I was a virgin, a newbie, a rookie: an island of panic in a sea of certainty and self-assurance. Amidst all the happy banter, rib-tickling and general joviality, I had never felt more lonely or quite as stranded . . . After years of searching, I had finally fund the thing in life I was best at.